Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-03-31
KIND WORD FOR HENNEPIN.
The General Advantages of W alter
Communication Fully SET Forth.

a st Paul Correspondents Favors IL
The General Advantages of alter
Communication. Fully set Forth.
Gen. C. C. Andrews, of St Paul, has
written strong snd able letter 10 the
Globe of that city on the value of canals
In the regulation of inland transportation
rates. His article is devoted largely to an
exposition of the needs OF the west for
water communication with the east, and
in illustration OF its advantages, he gives
facts and figures respecting the benefits
canals have elsewhere been to the country
Immediately tributary to them. He calls
the attention of The people in his section
especially. TO the necessity for canal from
the Mississippi to Green Bay via the Fox
and Wisconsin rivers, and shows that the
prairie farmers of Iowa, Minnesota, and
Dakota. who are paying upwards of Sl2
a ton for coal, or in lieu of coal have to
burn hay for fuel, are in actual distress
for lack of cheap water transportation.
Even 'the residents of railroad centers
like St. Paul and Minneapolis have
to pay So more per ton for their coal
than they would if the proposed canal
were in USE lie quotes m opinion of
ba lot T. Inhr-au &c
cut, whose views among the few Ameri.
can civil engineers are entitled he
saws to conclusive weight, to the effect
that these canals the Heunepln aud the
Fox and WisconSin-are destined 10 per-
form a most important part IN relation TO
the trade between the east aud the west,
aud also in relation to the trade between
the lower Mississippi and the lakes, and
that their construction is indispensable
and has become q necessity, and then
Mr.. Andrews demonstrates by figures
and quotations the great value of the
Miami canal, extending from Cincinnati
to Toledo, and of the value of the Erie
canal, to inland commerce. Il learn, 3"
he says, that among the benefits derived
from the system of canals are that they
regulate the freight charges of railroad
companies, thereby afrording saving of
many million dollars year to producers
in the adjacent region; the water power
furnished by the locks has developed
manufacturing industry employing a
capital of over 100000. the water in
nearly all cases returning to the canal be-
low the locks
All his points AID Illustrations are well
put, and having shown in many ways
the value of such canals, he allades to
The fact there has been some discussion
of the question of canal between Lake
Superior and the Mississippi via St.
Croix river, which he says would prove of
immense benefit TO Il great area of the
northwest and portion tributary to St
Paul and Minneapolis. But point that
be makes in concluding his article is of
special interest to this section. and indi>
Gates that the people north of us are sin
cercly disposed to aid in the futherauce
of the Hennepin cana! project. EX>Con>
gresham Murphy he'd the support of that
section in pushing Hcnnepin ia congress,
and although he is now q retired official,
he still takes au active interest in it and
is in communication with tie north as
well as elsewhere. But the point, which
will be of interest in this section is the
following extract from Gen. Andrews
article:
Assuming that all three of the canal
routes are feasible. namely, the Hennepin
which unitcs the waters of Lake Michi-
gan with the Mississippi via the Illinois
river-the Fox and the Wisconsin and
the st. Croix, what should be the plan of
proceeding by the friends of these meas
ures so far as regards their construction
by the general government? | think it
should be, first, to concentrate effort in
support of that canal which has best
show of early success. The Heunepln
canal seems DOW to be that one. The
success of that will so educate the puolic
in favor of canals that the government
will be constrained to undertake the Fox
and Wisconsin canal. and when that is
done it can undertake one along the St.
Croix if surveys show the route to be
practicable.